The American Red Cross called the other night to ask me to come in and give blood. They reserves are low.
I have been remiss in giving this past year, but gave this past Wednesday. I tend to have a problem with iron deficiency anemia if I give as often as they would like. Over the years I have learned that I am better off if I only give a couple of times a year rather than every 56 days.
Full eligibility guidelines for donors are available here. In general, a donor
* must be healthy (fell well and can perform normal activities)
* be at least 17 years old or 16 years old if allowed by state law
* weigh at least 110 pounds
* not have donated whole blood in the last 8 weeks (56 days)
Information on the ARC’s website states
Every minute of every day, someone needs blood. That blood can only come from a volunteer donor, a person like you who makes the choice to donate. There is no substitute for your donation.
When you make a blood donation, you join a very select group. Currently only 3 out of every 100 people in America donate blood.
Join me in giving blood. You’ll be giving life to someone.
Related posts:
Iron Deficient Anemia (June 15, 2007)
The Gift of Life (November 18, 2007)
3 comments:
It feels a little weird to tell an MD this, but... as a regular blood donor, I find that if I take a women's vitamin with iron, for a couple days ahead, I hit the iron mark just fine. If I don't, I'm just a tad too low to give. I don't feel different either way, and giving blood is important to me, so I take the vitamin with iron.
Bardiac, thanks for the tip. I have tried that, but find the iron hard on my stomach. Or maybe I'm not taking the "right" kind. :)
I should have known you'd have thought of it already. Sorry it doesn't work for you.
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